Tuesday, April 21, 2009

TUESDAY TUNES - "What If"

Last week my brother was telling me about the Thomas Jefferson Bible. The Wikipedia article says this: The Jefferson Bible, or The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth as it is formally titled, was Thomas Jefferson's effort to extract the doctrine of Jesus by removing sections of the New Testament containing supernatural aspects as well as perceived misinterpretations he believed had been added by the Four Evangelists.

I had never heard of this until last week, so I asked my super-smart theologian hubby about it. He hadn't heard of it either, so he decided to do some research on it. Apparently this book is public domain, so he easily found it for free download. You can read Matt's review about the TJB here.

I have heard more than a few people say that Jesus was a great teacher. That his lessons of love and peace are what we should take away from his life. I have to respectfully disagree.

The point of the Thomas Jefferson Bible is that is strips the gospels of content that points to the divinity of Christ. The TJB isn't exactly incorrect - just incomplete. You see, thinking that Jesus was just a good man or just a great moral teacher is like worshiping the Jesus in the Thomas Jefferson Bible - it strips Jesus of his divinity.

Was Jesus a good man? Yes. Was he a great moral teacher? The best! Was he so much more? Absolutely.

Jesus didn't come to wag his finger and tell us to play nice with each other. Jesus didn't come to gather us together for a big group hug. My hubby said last week that, "Jesus didn't come to make us all hippies!" Peace, love, happiness - these are all good things, but let's not patronize Jesus by thinking that's all he came to do. Jesus came to redeem us...to reconcile us to God.

Here is a C.S. Lewis quote from Mere Christianity that I really love. Matt used this in a sermon recently, and it stuck with me.

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a good moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic-on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg-or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great moral teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

The divinity of Jesus is what makes him special. It's what makes him more than just a great moral teacher. It's what makes him my LORD.

So today (yes, I know it's late...sorry - I've had a busy day!) I want to Tune Nichole Nordeman's song "What If." What if Jesus is more than we ever thought he was? I'm fairly certain He IS more...and then some! Enjoy...



Nichole Nordeman - What If
From the album Brave

What if you’re right?
And he was just another nice guy
What if you’re right?
What if it’s true?
They say the cross will only make a fool of you
And what if it’s true?

What if he takes his palace in history
With all the prophets and the kings
Who taught us love and came in peace
But then the story ends
What then?

(Chours)
But what if you’re wrong?
What if there’s more?
What if there’s hope you never dreamed of hoping for?
What if you jump?
And just close your eyes?
What if the arms that catch you, catch you by surprise?
What if He’s more than enough?
What if it’s love?

What if you dig, What if you dig
Way down deeper than your simple-minded friends
What if you dig?
What if you find
A thousand more unanswered questions inside
That’s all you find

What if you pick apart the logic
And begin to poke the holes
What if the crown of thorns is no more
Then folklore that must be told and retold

(Chours)

You’ve been running as fast as you can
You’ve been looking for a place you can land so long
But what if you’re wrong?

What if you jump?
And just close your eyes?
What if the arms that catch you, catch you by surprise?
What if He’s more than enough?
What if it’s love?

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

TUESDAY TUNES - "Save it for a Rainy Day"

My parents have been fans of The Jayhawks for a few years now, and I know for a fact that I've heard their music time and time again through my folks. I also know that they play The Jayhawks on my favorite radio station, WTTS. For some reason though, I have never really caught on to this band...until tonight.

Mom and Dad were playing The Jayhawks' album Rainy Day Music while we were over for dinner tonight, and I was struck by their music. The songs are just so pleasing and soothing, and GAH with the harmony! The songs that I heard seemed to just flow...does that make sense? Like there wasn't a whole lot of effort or hooplah behind them. It was just music...and it was good.

Tell me: do any of you know/love The Jayhawks too? Have I been living under a rock or something, or is this band new to you too?

I think I'm going to download some more stuff by The Jayhawks when we get home tomorrow. Until then, I'll have to enjoy them on YouTube! Hope you enjoy it too...



Pretty little hairdo don't do what it used to
Can't disguise the living
All the miles that you've been through

Looking like a train wreck
Wearing too much makeup
The burden that you carry
Is more than one soul could ever bear

Don't look so sad, Marina
There's another part to play
Don't look so sad, Marina
Save it for a rainy day
Save it for a rainy day
Save it for a rainy day

You neve make your mind up
Like driving with your eyes shut
Rough around the edges
Won't someone come and take you home

Waiting for a breakthrough
What will you set your mind to?
We stood outside the Chinese restaurant
in the rain

Don't look so sad, Marina
There's another part to play
Don't look so sad, Marina
Save it for a rainy day
Save it for a rainy day
Save it for a rainy day

Friday, April 10, 2009

Why?

Today is Good Friday. What a solemn, somber day. Today we remember Jesus' crucifixion. We know now that in three days there will be a resurrection that will shake creation to its very core, but today...today we mourn. I think, even as people who live on this side of the resurrection, we don't fully understand just what happened that Friday hundreds of years ago. To think that our Lord would take on our sins as his own and die a criminal's death to redeem us is enough to boggle the mind.

I want you to listen to this song (it's not Tuesday...am I throwing you a curveball, or what?). It's by Nichole Nordeman (one of my favorites), and it's a song written from the perspective of a child watching the crucifixion. I hope these words both haunt and heal you today. Yes, our Lord is hanging on a cross, but he is up there paying our price. In three days he will defeat death, and will rise - and will invite us to rise with him.

It's an exciting time for Christians - this holy week we find ourselves in. I hope you are trying to place yourself in the story this week...

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Mental Tourette's?

I think I have Tourette's Syndrome...but only in my head. That's what I'm calling it anyway. I seem to have developed a knack for thinking of funny things at the most inappropriate times. Sometimes my little daydreams are so real, I actually almost do or say what I'm thinking out loud! It's really going to get me in trouble sometime. Here are a few examples from the last week or two:

1) We were at the Veedersburg Community Palm Sunday worship service Sunday night at the Christian Church. This church's communion traditions dictate that everyone drink the cup together. Some nice words of institution are said, and everyone drinks together. So, there we were, enjoying a serious, quiet communion moment with a hundred of our neighbors, and as we all tipped our cups back to take the juice, I wanted to swallow and shout, "OPAH!" like they do on My Big Fat Greek Wedding! I didn't do it, of course, but just thinking about it gave me a little case of the giggles.

2) Last week when I was in New Orleans with Mom and Kelly, we attended a dinner with Mom's associates on the board of the American Council on Gift Annuities. Five of the board members were retiring, so there was a nice dinner to honor them and their years of service to ACGA. At one point during the dinner, people were invited to stand up and say nice things about the people who were retiring. One man from our table stood up to recognize someone, and began talking a lot about things I wasn't familiar with. This is not a rare occurance with the people my mother works for. I know jack squat about gift planning, annuities, laws pertaining to gift planning, bequests, blah, blah, blah. (Geez, I'm even boring myself just thinking about it!) This stuff is seriously over my head. So anyway, this really pleasant man is saying some really wonderful things about this other guy, but I was LOST because he was talking a lot of shop. The whole room was SILENT as this guy spoke, and being the polite, awesome person I am, I kept my eyes on him, smiling and nodding through his whole speech. Midway through his homage, my mind drifted a little, and I imagined myself just laughing out loud at something he said that I obviously didn't understand. You know - one of those laughs that's about half-fake, and says, "Oh no he di-in't!" I snapped out of my daydream pretty quickly, but I was still pretty tickled with myself. I almost peed a little trying not to laugh in real life.

This is the burden that I carry folks. Anyone else out there with me? Besides Dr. John Dorian of course...

TUESDAY TUNES - "Godspeed"

It's Tuesday, so that means it's time for another Tuesday Tune! Is anyone out there enjoying these weekly posts besides me? Growing up in the family I did tricked me into thinking people cared a lot more about music than most people do. If you get bored with these Tuesday Tunes, I apologize. I probably won't stop them anytime soon though - no matter how you feel about it. I'm enjoying sharing music with you!

This week's Tune comes to us from the Dixie Chicks album "Home." My in-laws bought me this for my birthday in 2002, and I loved the whole album from first listen. I love the Dixie Chicks. What a perfect combination of country, bluegrass, rock and roll and sassy ladies! I feel like these Chicks bridge the gaps between generations and genres, and I appreciate that about them.

This week's Tune, "Godspeed," always makes me feel a little weepy. I remember hearing it for the first time, and thinking, "I'm going to sing this to my son someday. What a perfect lullaby!" As the years of trying to have a baby have come and gone with no child to show for them, this song has become a little sour to me. Instead of dreaming of singing this to my child someday, I instead started wondering if that child would ever come.

Infertility is often a hopeless journey. You want so desperately to bring life to the world, and often you feel like you're dead inside. I have had quite the roller coaster ride through all of this. Some days I feel so full of hope, I'm sure I'll be pregnant just by wishing it. Other days I feel like all the hope has been washed away, and I will be left a barren, childless woman all the days of my life. It's interesting to me that everyone else's reproductive lives just keep going on as normal. Shouldn't all my friends and family members be experiencing this as well? To see everyone else having babies the way we were built to can be really discouraging.

Last summer a series of events occurred that birthed new hope into my infertility journey. I won't go on and on about them here. Go back in the archives, and you'll see them documented there. Needless to say, God has worked wonderful miracles in my hope life these past few months, and I am now dreaming of holding my children someday.

For your tuning pleasure, here is "Godspeed" by the Dixie Chicks...

Sunday, April 05, 2009

I WON! I WON!

I WON!

I never win anything, but today I am a WINNER! I love reading Amanda's blog, so of course I entered her giveaway for Marlo Schalesky's book "If Tomorrow Never Comes." Schalesky is the author of a book my friend Sarah sent me called "Empty Womb, Aching Heart." Obviously infertility is a subject close to Schalesky's heart. Matt and I continue to struggle through our infertility issues, so I am excited to see what wisdom I might glean from reading these books.

Look for a review as soon as I'm finished reading it, and don't forget to go give Amanda some bloggy love!